Apparatus for bottling carbonated beverages



July 15, 1952 J. B. VANCE 2,603,399

APPARATUS FOR BOTTLING CARBONATED BEVERAGES Filed Jan. 5, 1946 2sums-sum 1 IN VE N TOR. JAMES 1am we;

July 15, 1952 J. B. VANCE 2,603,399

7 APPARATUS FOR BOTTLING CARBONATED BEVERAGES Filed Jan. 5, 1946 2SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTORQ JAMES B. Vfl/VCE Patented July 15, 1952 1gas-snares i on BOTTLlNG "oARBoNAiizb 1 BEVERAGES j v,

J ames B, Vance,'-Bii'n1ingham, i'as'signorl to Crown Cork & SealCompany, Ina, Baltimore; H

v -l ...=Md.-, a corporation-of New York 'iaiiiilicat'iori January '5,1946, Serial No. 62951 73 1- Claim. (amass- 117) 3 be Worthless 23 fi 5SQ finiich carbonic whim/arch ater is charged, has escaped that it i'aid "as to carbonic content, sii'h a bbttle "then b1ng. known, to the Itrade as a that"? dadibdttleg n the first of the above ease 'sfiohbottles be separated by m tnediiviyifiechanism oifthe bottling 4 li e,aha their 66mm 7 poured out as waste, the'i'c beih-iio 'cbt rheidiallylfeasible way to sale In the lattr cas'e, the seas bottles aiejdenfe'dto thefii'ade and rfiiiiti'shia'le aaasesfim t th e bingiio iivaytotII -HyT-i be at eth or. n t the bottle is Saki-7t zidafdfin carton cooh't'ent. 1 ii i gm a a s a e much as 3600 cases s tg rages loss offif'drgi 3' to 50' eases .per day can normally be exbec'tefl as ac'cofif q "t beii1 filled to standard, 515a thatano't e1, though smaller,humb'r are 165 due to loss Of-Ja 1551 1; of their aiboni gas e5s'tat. ,qI I .7

The manager 'ca fbojnateii'b'everages as heretofoi'e fifacti '6 lis sihclii'cie'd. the following steps: ('1) piping ta. eibottl tne qesi eaqiiahtityof syrup; (2) media's-11y sealing the bottle; (3)

brodu'cingra counterpres'sure inthebottle cori-es'p'ori'ding tothezpifessnre in the carbonated Water tank; 4 'fi11'in3g the bottlev asnearly as bossible to apfresamifi eq level with carbonated water; (5)breaking he temporary seal to freliev pressure in the unfilled portionof the bottle, this step being knew-fr; to the bottling industry asshifting; and (6)" after a relatively long period f..ti1i1e, cappingthebottle. I have discovered that it-is ouring steps -angi. 6',- above,that the difficulties mentioned hereinlhave arisen, it being understoodthat automatic machinery for carrying out all of the above steps hasbeenused. It is known that as soon as the temporary seal is broken the.carbonated water commences to'efiervesce and escapes with the escapinggas through the shifting-i openingc'due to pressure in the amuse-portfesiiltin'g intvhat i's known as a =snfi-t ana caqsirg theliqui'dcontent of the bottle to aII eI Wstapdara Under'ertam conditions oftemperat re and pressure-obtainin'g duriffg normal operation of thebottling plant, the quantity of liquid was s'eaiohig from some of thebottles is so great that they are sub-Standard as to "tiiilititi; andthe htire c'on tents must be 'bolix' etl out as waste; Further; due inpart both to jthefwet-smitiiig and to the relativelfiz long p'eifiod ortime between shifting and fin alcapbi'ng: a: the some sqhi'i'em gasesca'ps'from other bottles to 'cai'ise trie conterit's to becomesiib-Stahdard as "66 carts-me gas con tent. v I

It is an object of my invention, therefore,- to rovide apparatus forbottling carbonated beverages whic Shane dabtjef'd tp sprate in a mannerwhereby the t rfi 'e1'in'nt" 'o'f tlie' ffsfni'ft ing step is closely'dntfbll'd, thus 'rsjiltin'g in what is termed a it; y fit" of th'ebottlesfahd preventing' the wastage of liquid mretmm; thahb'olttlesfilled by memes "do ta Ta standard quantity of bi'op'jerl y carbonatedliqiiid. A mane: bbj otis -'to brov'id a method and apparatuso f theohaiact'r designated in which a bottl'e being fi1le"' i has the pressureiii "its unfilledfpor'tion re ased v'vithotit the loss 6 1mm therefrom,andi \ivl ii'cl' the tiihe'iiiterval during 'which the shift d still in,Solilt ibii the Water is not released, thus Ihaintaining the water inthebo ttle at substantially the same gas fconterit as when admitted eme.;e q a .v

am r -ea ai /rs t some a aw n hic be a i h ar ed water hasthe essgrerelease-3&1 fromtrie imbu to Without ess nq ig cd 4 angiii wmeshis bot ei'sag tei 'pa aiv vjseaecl f oi a period of ti "e suffi at top" it thflchaigeid Water there n be close: utfiantiauy n efi rv 'sgmg, so

that ii 'iih the iarysal isjr msvee iebars my to capping, the water will.not same-See out otthe open bottle.

Apparatus embody ng features army invh is illustrated in t eaocoiiipahififi dra "'i'n fo'rining a part offthisamili tio'ri, iiiWhichv 1 1 a ssmwn a iagrammatic dross see tioiial v ew or a complete,bdttnngjinachihe;

, F gs. 2;, 3 ema are 2655 se'ejtioxim views 6% the fillingv-alve'vviththparts th me; in the counterre ssqre filling, and shiftingpositions, reti e wen lflg, 5 is a Qiagrammatic plan vievv of, a rotaryfilling-machine and 'rllusti'ating the points at 3 which the varioussteps in my improved bottling method commence and end.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of my invention,I show a preferred form of rotary bottling machine which is well knownto the trade, but various bottling machines now in use may be adapted tocarry out my method. The machine embodies in general four units, namely,a saturator A, for carbonat ing water, a syrup feeder B, a rotary.filler C, and a crowner D. The saturator supplies carbonated waterthrough a pipe ll to a tank [2 on the filling machine 0, the carbonicgas being admitted bottle being thence into the bottle 23. It will benoted that to the system through a pipe I3 from the usual U cylinder,not shown. Head pressure in the saturator A is carried to the tank 12through a pipe l4, and a rotary connector [5."

The rotary filling unit C comprises a vertical column l6 carrying at itsupper end a circular portion l1. on top of which isthe tank l2, and atthe periphery ofwhich' are mounted a plurality of filling valves l8,each of which has a downwardly extending filling tube l9 and the usualbell assembly 20. Leading from each valve I8 to the bottom oftank 12 isa pipe 2|, through which carbonated water fiows to the valve. A secondpipe 22 opens into the top of the tank l2 so that gas pressure thereinis supplied to the valve; The filler is rotated in a' manner wellunderstood in the art, it being suificient here to say that the valveI8, and bottles 23 being filled thereby, rotate substantially 360degrees, the bottles being supplied to and removed from bottle lifters24 by sets of rotating transfer spiders 26 and 21. 1

Syrup is supplied to the bottles prior to reaching the filler by thesyrup feeder B, and the bottles are capped after making the circuitaround the filler by the crowner D.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seenthat the filling valves I8 each comprise a stationary portion 28 withthe filling tube [9 and bell assembly 28 depending therefrom. Associatedwith the face of the stationary part 28 is a complementary section 29which is rotatable with respect to part 28 by means of upper and loweractuating arms 3| and 32, adapted, as the filler rotates, to strike lugssecured to suitable stationary parts of the filler frame, for purposeslater to be described.

The stationary section 28 of each valve I8 is drilled to provide apassage 33 therethrough to which is connected the pipe 2| for admissionof carbonated water to the valve. Another passage 34 is connected to thetop of tank l2 through pipe 22 for the admission to the valve face ofgas pressure in the tank [2. Still another passage 36 is provided andopens to atmosphere.

The filling tube l9 isprovided with a passage 31, opening at the lowerend thereof, and extending up through the part 28 and opening into theface of the valve. A second passage 38 commences at the valve face andopens from the filling tube at the height of fill desired in the bottle,as indicated by the dottedlines in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. A third passage 39commences at the valve face and opens out from the filling tube at apoint above the open ends of passages 31 and :38, just inside the neckof the bottle 23.

From the above description of the valve I 8, it will be apparent thatwith the two sections 28 and 29 thereof in the position shown in'Fig. 2,counterpressure from the tank I2 is admitted through the pipe 22,passage 34 and a passage-48 in the movable portion 29, thence into thepassage 38, and thence into the bottle 23. Sufficient thecounterpressure is still connected, so that when water rises in'thebottle to the level of the lowermost end of passage 38 no further wateris admitted.

As shown in Fig; '4, the valve is in the snifting'position, the gas inthe unfilled neck portion of the bottle passing upwardly through thepassage '39, a passage 43 in the movable portion 29 of'the valve, thenceout to atmosphere through the passage 36.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 5 of the drawing, bottlescontaining the correct amount of syrup are transferred to the filler bymeans of the spiders 26, and are moved onto the rotating filler andpositioned beneaththe individual valves 18. The filler is rotated in thedirection of the arrow 48and the bottle lifters 24 raise the bottlesinto engagement with the bell assembly of their respective valves l8.vAs soon as this is accomplished, a lug 43 fast to any suitablestationary portion of the filler, strikesthe lower actuating arm 32causing the valve. to open to the position shown in Fig. 2, therebyestab lishing the necessary counterpressure in the bottle. When themachine has rotated the distance indicated by arrow 44, the actuatingarm 32 engages a second lug 46 on astationary'part of the filler and thevalveis moved to the positionindicated in, Fig. 3, which is the waterfilling position, admitting carbonated water through the pipe 2| intothe bottle. Upon further rotation as indicated by the arrow 41,thebottle has completed filling to the point'indicated by dotted lines38 in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and the actuating arm 32 strikes another lug 48fast on a stationary part of the filler, moving the valve to thepositionindicatedin Fig. 4. This is the shifting position, and the valveis thus held during rotation indicated by arrow 49. At this point theupper arm 3| of the valve l8 strikes another lug 5| thereby closing thevalve entirely, that is with no ports open and sealing the bottle. Thebottle remains closed during the rotation indicated by arrow 52 until itis lowered from engagement with the bell assembly and transferred to thecrowner D by the spiders 21. Another lug 53, is positioned to strike theactuating arms 32 of each valve and reset it for the next cycle.

I so arranged the speed of rotation of the filler and the spacing oflugs 48 and 5| that the bottle snifts for a period of from one to threeseconds. The rotational speed is also such that when the valve isreturned to closed position by its actuating arm 32 striking lug 5|, aperiod of from four to eight seconds elapses before the bottle isdisengaged from the bell assembly by the lowering of the lifters 24. Ihave found that if these two time elements are maintained, thedifficulties heretofore mentioned are com pletely overcome.

It will also be noted that the lug 48 is so positioned that sniftingtakes place immediately after the bottle has completed filling. It is atthis time that the carbonated water is the least effervescent andtherefore openingthe bottle to atmosphere'for a short period of timedoes not permit the water to resume its efier- 'vescence, provided thatthe bottle is not held causes the bottle to Shift dry, but that thisperiod of time is insufficient to permit the escape of more than a smallamount of carbonic gas in solution in the water. Further, the four toeight second settling period afforded by closing the bottle immediatelyafter the one to three second snift, causes the filled bottle to emergefrom the machine after the filling operation with the carbonated waterin a stable state. Thus, at the end of the cycle when the bell assemblyis removed from the bottle, but little efiervescence takes place, withthe result that all bottles on the machine are filled to the desiredlevel and their carbonic gas content remains substantially the same aswhen the water was admitted to the bottle.

While I have described by method and apparatus as being particularlyapplicable for bottling carbonated beverages, it will be apparent thatit may be used for bottling charged water and other liquids containinggas in solution.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be 3Oplaced thereupon as are specifically set forth in I the appended claim.What I claim is: In a rotary filling machine for bottling carbonatedwater embodying a tank for carbonated water under pressure, a rotatingframe, a plurality of rotary filling valves connected to the bottom ofthe tank and to pressure at the top thereof and each adapted to receivea bottle to be filled, passages in the valves for admitting gas pressureand carbonated water to the bottles, and an exhaust passage forrelieving pressure in the unfilledtop portion of the bottles, toatmosphere, the combination of stationarymembers positioned in the pathof movement of the valves with the tank to rotate them successively tothe gas pressure and water filling positions, a stationary member in thepath of movement of the valves to rotate them to position for relievingpressure in the unfilled top portion of the bottles, a stationary memberso positioned in the path of the valves as to rotate them to a positionwherein they will be closed entirely, and another stationary member torotate the valves to reset them for the next cycle of operation.

JAMES B. VANCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

